


Haunted

by ClockworkDinosaur (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Short, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8106040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ClockworkDinosaur
Summary: It was hard to sleep with the weight of his own ghosts pressing against him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This spent a while in my scraps folder, but I decided to polish it and post it. Strider sibling moments are always nice.

Can Town was silent in the late hour. The only illumination came from the stars and the distant blinking fireflies. Still, Dave wore his sunglasses. Ironically, he told himself, but he knew it was to hide how swollen and red his eyes were. He didn't want to worry anyone.

Not that there was anyone around to worry in the middle of the night, but still.

He sat on top of the cylindrical house and watched the stars that reflected in his sunglasses.

“Can't sleep?” a voice said suddenly, causing Dave to nearly fall off the side of the house.

“Jesus CHRIST, dude,” Dave said, his heart racing as Dirk took a seat next to him with an apologetic expression. “Can you not sneak up on a guy at three in the fucking morning like some kind of goddamn ninja hell-bent on murdering my ass?”

“Sorry,” Dirk said. “I really didn't mean to sneak up on you.”

Dave waved him off. “It's fine, don't worry about it,” he said, his heart still pounding.

Dave tried his hardest not to be tense around Dirk, an uphill battle that even months around him hadn't fully helped. His triangular glasses were off, firey eyes looking out over the cylindrical homes that dotted the valley. Dave glanced over at him, trying to see Bro somewhere in his relaxed demeanor and hating himself for doing so.

Dirk was aware of Dave's scrutiny, even with his eyes hidden. He tried not to feel like he was being judged.

The silence stretched on for several minutes, the breeze fluttering the leaves the only noise until Dirk spoke up again.

“I can't sleep either,” he admitted.

Dave frowned. “Who said I can't sleep?”

“It's the middle of the night and you're brooding. Plus it's pretty obvious that you've been exhausted recently. Even Jake is noticing something's up with you,” said Dirk. “What's going on?”

Dave was silent.

“I'm sorry if I was prying,” Dirk said. “I can go if-”

“Do you know how many times I died?” Dave said suddenly, his words jumbled together so it took Dirk a second to realize what he said.

“Do you know how many versions of me died, how many Daves existed for the sole purpose of getting fucked over like some kind of sacrificial goat to appease some stable time loop god or some shit? I could have made one slightly different decision and ended up like that. If I had fucking decided to put my pants on in a slightly different way that morning I could have been stabbed to death by an all-powerful dog or some other bullshit because it wasn't the right decision,” Dave said, wrapping his arms around himself.

“You're safe now,” Dirk said. “We won the game, all of that is in the past.”

Dave scoffed. “Yeah, act like you aren't dealing with the same bullshit I am. The past was fucked and it will continue to fuck us up until the end of eternity.” He rubbed his temples. “The past still happened. I still fucking died hundreds of times.”

“They weren't you though. You're here and you're alive.”

“It could have been me!” shouted Dave, before taking a deep breath and controlling his tone. “Any one of those moments where the time-line branched off, I could have been the doomed Dave. Hundreds of times I was one incorrect decision away from being screwed.” Dave shook his head. “I keep thinking about all of those choices that seemed so unimportant that led to me dying. I keep thinking about seeing myself lying on that fucking quest bed, just waiting to go God Tier. But I- or he made the wrong decision because I made my own decision.” Dave put his head in his hands. “I hate this, I hate remembering, over-thinking everything...”

Dirk watched Dave with concern. “I think it's natural to look back at everything that led us up to this point and realize just how fucked up it was,” he said. “But you can't change the past, even if you are a fully-realized Knight of Time. Looking back is normal but it isn't going to help you now.”

“I know that, but it's hard to move on when I see my own blood on my hands every time I close my damn eyes,” Dave muttered.

“I understand,” Dirk said. “It's hard to sleep when I keep waking up with the feeling of being decapitated.”

Dave gave him a sympathetic look. “Us Striders are seriously fucked up,” he said.

Dirk shrugged.

“I'm sorry for just suddenly unleashing that on you like a fuck-ton of emotional bricks,” Dave said after a minute.

“Unleash whatever emotional building materials you need to, bro,” Dirk said.

Dave looked at him with a half-smile. He held out his fist and Dirk tapped his knuckles against Dave's.

“Thanks,” Dave said, and without realizing it, his shoulders relaxed.

 


End file.
